June 29, 2010

The thumbnails for the next two comics are going to tell you to read this, I consider it important that everyone do so before you read them.

The next two comics (Pages 67 and 68 of Book 4, releasing on 01/07/2010 and 05/07/2010 respectively) deal with some controversial material, and will very likely offend a lot of people.

Things have been building throughout the plot towards them since part-way through Book 3, mostly throughout Book 4. I have had plenty of time therefore to change how it turns out.

As you can/will see, I decided not to.

It’s a very emotional matter, and it’s not one I’ve take lightly in the slightest. It’s painful, it’s dark, and whilst the act itself is not integral enough to the story to be irremovable, it’s the emotional impact that is important. It is the culmination of Igon’s revelations about the world he lives in, and possibly the most important of them all.

Still, I know some of my readers will have dealt with similar issues in their own lives, and may find these two pages inappropriate, perhaps even hurtful. They are intended to hurt, but not to hurt my loyal and supportive readers, just the characters of this story.

I’m sorry if you were hurt by these comics, and I hope you find that it was a necessary move in the storyline, not a frivolous or tactless attempt to elicit emotion through controversy.

I’ve never had someone in my life do this, but having to write it made it hurt, a lot, for me.

So I’m sorry, and don’t read the comics if you think you’ll be hurt by them, but I need to show them.

Kind of saw it coming, but you might want to specify what exactly is going on in the comics before warning people that they may not want to read them - as it is you’re being very vague.

Personally though, I think it’s just one of the things I like about your writing, that you don’t shy away from dealing with the harsh realities that come with this thing we call life. I’ve seen writers put similar things into their storylines with the intent of gaining publicity/controversy, but that isn’t why you’re doing it - you’re just being true to your characters. If that wasn’t the case I’d be rather upset with you, but as things are, I don’t think you have anything to apologize for. (Though the warning is a good idea.)